Saturday, February 17, 2007

A secret admirer has sent you a message. Below you will find the message andthe link to view your secret admirer:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey, I'm not gonna give away my name, but I'm going to give you a few hints. My first hint is: I worked with a friend of yours and we ended up meeting at a bar we were together at. My second hint is: I have brown dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. My third hint is: I drink vodka tonics. I think we even had a discussion about it that night, but maybe not. Anyway, I have a crush on you and would like to meet up sometime if you're interested.

Ok, first of all lady spammer, a few points to note:

If I was out for a drink and I met a lady fitting your description, I wouldn't be boring enough to talk about an alchoholic drink all night.

If that is all you can remember of my charm and wit, you must be either: a. a very desperate, or b: a very sad individual

If you're that interested then you would have given your name and you would have chosen a classier website to make your introduction than "weblove4utonight"

I don't know any friend of mine who knows someone matching your description, and if he did, he would have asked you out lol

I go out to pubs, not bars.

Unless you're a brewery nerd, how can you have a discussion about vodka?!

For that matter, why in heaven's name would you have a discussion about vodka?

If you have a "crush" on me, you must obviously be about 15 years old, since socially well-adjusted adults do not use those terms.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Something in the shop started giving me sneezing fits, and now all my sinuses have gone into overdrive, and i sound and look like I have a bad cold...

Wierd.

On a positive note, it's been VERY quiet in the shop today, and although I've got on with my work, it's not been at too hurried a pace...

:-)

I've got a busy time ahead of me tonight, I've agreed to accompany my sis on guitar again as she's singing at another open mic event. I don't think I sound that good but she's happy with it, so I'll do the brotherly thing and support her...

(Ed: I saved the above post as draft and then forgot to publish it!! For posterity I'll keep it, and the rest of this post is from Tuesday 13th!!)Talented Lesbians and Red Bull...

Well, the open mic nite went ok, ruth did three of her songs and three covers. I accompanied her on guitar, it was sort of ok, though that time of night, (10-30/11-ish) I start to get tired, and get tremors in my hands a little bit, so my guitar playing isn't quite up to the usual standard....

She doesn't seem to notice, (probably because she doesn't play an instrument lol) and was happy with how it went, so that's the main thing. We did acoustic cover versions of Damage's 'Love 2 Love', (remember them? lol) TLC's 'waterfall', and a very funky version of Basement Jaxx's 'Good Luck'. I really enjoy doing the Bsement Jaxx one, because it's so similar to the original song, but played on a guitar, so it sounds like a new version, even though it's technically the same melody, chords and structure. I had to work it out by listening to the CD!!

You may be wondering at the post title, the reason being it was an open mic night at one of Liverpool's gay bars, and there are some very talented gay guitarists let me tell you!! After hearing the first two play and sing, I actually felt a bit awkward going up to play for our set, because they were so good and I didn't know musically how I could follow them. I had no worries about my sis, because she has a brilliant voice, (sorry another plug - go to her myspace here to listen to some of her tracks) and I knew she could carry the vocals, it was just me with my tremor-filled hands!!

Seriously though, the two girls who performed before us were both fantastic vocal and guitar-ability wise, I think they could easily get a record deal if they wanted to, but they both seem happy just performing there every monday. If you had the ability, it'd be a nice life I guess to just be bale to do that every week. There was a time when I was planning to do that in the future, but now with the onset of tremors, etc M.S. has robbed me a little bit of my guitar playing and I'm no longer as proficient or confident as I used to be. Hopefully they didn't notice too many mistakes and thought that I was learner.

Not that I'm proud, it's just that after nearly eighteen years of playing the guitar, I would be annoyed if people thought I'd spent all that time being rubbish lol!

Meh I guess an open mic night isn't about who trumps who in skill, it's about everyone enjoying each other's music and taking part. At least that's what I keep telling myself lol!

Even though I'm not that confident outside of leading worship, I think it went ok, and I even sang and played one of my songs, a sloppy love song I wrote for my fiance at the time. It went ok, though the mic was too loud and hearing my own voice back through the speakers puts me off, so I went a little flat at one point I think. Ah well, all experience as they say.

I'm learning/working out some more covers this week, as she wants to do some different songs next monday, so we'll wait and see whether I work them out in time!!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Well, well, snow has arrived, and with it, the total impending doom of the country formerly known as the United Kingdom. Overnight, motorists and pedestrians have been turned into gibbering wrecks, as the maelevolent icy fingers of snow break even the strongest will and cause mass hysteria.

Regular radio bulletins warn us that every car should have a special *snowed-in survival kit* which includes a shovel, a blanket and a thermos of hot coffee and a first aid kit. Males all over the uk take a risk and drive to wild untamed God-forsaken places in the countryside, hoping to be "snowed -up" with a female, as the experts instruct us the best way to keep warm in a survival situation is to get naked and share body heat...

The weather people also warn of catastophic blizzards that will sweep the country causing havoc and devastation, preceded by sleet that makes the plague of hailstones in Exodus look tame...

Major buisness leaders warn of dire economic consequences as shares plummet and people re-invest in winter portfolios, and the talking heads on tv all warn that the snow ploughs and gritter trucks themselves may struggle overnight...

What pray tell will become of civilization as we know it? Will the human race survive? (perhaps the people stuck in cars will ;) hehe) We go to our beds and try to rest, knowing that a fitful, restless sleep will be the best we can hope for, as we worry about what the Gods of Ice and Snow will punish us mere mortals with tommorrow...

It's come to my attention that I have no money left for this month due to paying a large bill, and am running low on lens solution. This, it has to be understood, is a major disaster, much in the scale of Earthquakes and Floods.

I've been wearing contact lenses since I was 17, I discovered them right at the end of sixth-form and just before my A-Levels. Up until that point, I was your typical average speccied four eyes ultra-shy geek that everyone avoided, and suddenly with the advent of lenses, people started actually talking to me, and I found my confidence level tripled. It was very strange to suddenly be able to walk into the Sixth Form Common Room on a free period, and to sit down and talk with girls sitting opposite without the usual panic attacks or unbelievable nervousness. (girls!! they were unattainable mythical creatures for me, even trying to attempt to bring about a conversation with them nearly brought me out in a rash!) Having the thick brown glasses free on the NHS with lenses the thickness of bottles didn't help either.

Since then, I've become more confident, and I bet many of my former classmates wouldn't recognise me now as the same shy, generally strange person who was in school. I wear glasses and lenses interchangeably now, and am not bothered by them, but generally, I still prefer wearing lenses, partly because of a line of sight reason.

You don't get an area that is blurry with lenses, you can see clearly out of the whole line of vision, whereas with glasses there's always that bit beyond your frames that is blurry. The other reason is still one of confidence. I still feel much more confident when I have to sing or speak in public, when I'm wearing lenses.

So the fact I'm running out of solution and don't have the money to buy any more at present, means I will have to ration my wearing of them carefully. Times when I'm singing in public, like leading worship in church, etc I'll wear my lenses. The rest of the time, (i.e. my everyday job) I'll wear the glasses. Many important clothing and style decisions will have to be made this month now to tie in with whichever Im wearing to assist my eyesight!! *sighs* It's so hard being me.

2. Smoking In general.

At present I am sick to the back teeth of smoke in public. When I go to eat a meal, have a drink, accompany my sister on the guitar at open mic nights... wherever I go, there seems to be smoke. Even in so-called "non-smoking" areas, it still drifts across, and by the end of the night, you end up smelling like a 40-a-dayer. I HATE IT!!!!

Last night I was accompanying my sister on the guitar as she sang at a club/pub in an open mic night, (she writes her own stuff, usually not acoustic - see her myspace) and I came home absolutely reeking of smoke. We were only in there for about two hours!! I can't wait when the new smoking legislation comes into force about smoking in public, I would just like to go somewhere without being contaminated by someone else's habit.

Yes I realise people have the right to smoke, hell if they want to be stupid enough to kill themselves slowly from the inside, let them, (!) but I don't see why I should have to ingest their smoke as well. Passive smoking is still a big percentage of all Lung cancer cases, obviously not the majority, but it certainly contributes to the figures. July next year should see the new legislation becoming law here, and Liverpool City Centre should generally become a much cleaner place, and I will be abe to go for a meal, or a drink, or to sing or play in a smoke-free zone. I can't wait.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

It's very cold at the moment, (in fact it's actually -5 c outside!!). Although it isn't particularly windy, if the door is left even slightly ajar, the cold air seems to breeze in and make the shop like a freezer!! So, to keep the heat in, I've printed a notice (in large print) and put it on the glass of the front door (at general eye level) asking customers to close the door behind them, when they enter or leave.

Yet 99% of them don't even read the notice, as is evidenced by the amount of excercise I have gotten this morning walking back an forth between the counter and the front door...

Friday, February 02, 2007

Apologies for not posting for a while, I haven't felt very inspired lately, and haven't felt much motivation to blog.

However, there have been things happening in my life, even in the midst of non-blogging and with a lack of motivation...

I had a job interview last Saturday. - I felt it went really well, and they said they would contact me in about a week, for a possible second interview, but I've heard nothing as of yet. (it'll be a week since the interview tommorrow) I'm not really sure whether it's a good sign or not that I've heard nothing, I guess I'll just have to wait and see. It's a bit demoralising just waiting for a phonecall, but I guess that's part of the process for everyone.

I sent my claim form in for DLA, (Disability Living Allowance) on the 9th December, and have had two letters up until now telling me they are looking at my claim, but not much else. I'm quite frustrated about it as it seems there is a lot of red tape to get through, and I only applied for it in the first place because someone encouraged me that I had a valid case, with having M.S. and still working full-time. I'm not looking for huge amounts of money, I know I'm mild compared with most people who have M.S, but that little extra so that I can get a taxi to work sometimes when I feel tired would be an advantage.

I'm really hating work at the moment. Everytime I try to look to the future and worry, (which is all I seem to do at the moment!) I can't see any avenue for progression where I am at the moment, and it's a further source of frustration that the company I work for is cutting back financially all the time at the moment, including staff and resources, so doing my job is getting harder and harder at the moment, and on top of that, I've found out today that my Boss is taking on a new role in the near future, so that he will be even less available than heis now, and I will have to pick up the pieces in the shop even more than currently, with no extra wage or staff resources. Realising what's ahead of me in terms of volume and intensity of work in the next year, is actually making me quite frustrated and low at the moment.

For the last couple of weeks, I've got back into worship leading in church, which has been a real blessing and something I've really missed. I didn't realise how much I missed it until I started doing it again, and it's been really great to work with a bunch of quality musicians, leading them an working out arrangements, and being part of a team of people working out the worship life of our fellowship. They're a good bunch of people, and it's only in leading again that I've realised how much I took every one of them for granted. Their improvisation skills, and sensitivity to every little change I make in a song as I'm leading is just sheer brilliance, and I'm grateful to God for the way He has been moulding us together, and that has shown in the expression of worship in the people.

I've spent alot of time on my own lately, with occasional moments of social activity with friends, and in those times, I've been learning to appreciate them in ways I haven't before. Don't get me wrong, I'm still struggling everyday with lonliness, and a sense of my old shyness coming back, but the times I have with them seem to alleviate that, and although they are maybe once a week, I'm really gaining the benefit from it, and I think my soul is encouraged everytime I see them.

I'm finding the way of Jesus very hard, but worthwhile. I was listening today to a preacher who talked about our soul cravings pointing us to God, and that in the hard times we should be running to Him not away, we should face the problem and hurt, not run from it. He never promises to take us away from it, but He does promise to be with us as we go through it. We should use our pains and hurts to help us encounter God in them, not seek Him for relief outside of them.

People Whos's Blogs I Read:

WISE PEOPLE:

"Jesus did not die at the hands of muggers, rapists, or thugs. He fell into the well-scrubbed hands of deeply religious people, society's most respected members." - Brennan Manning

"All religious and political systems, Right and Left alike, are the work of human beings. Abba's children will not sell their birthright for any mess of pottage, conservative or liberal. They hold fast to their freedom in Christ to live the gospel-uncontaminated by cultural dreck, political flotsam, and the filigreed hypocrisies of bullying religion." - Brennan Manning

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." ~ Albert Einstein

"To disagree with three-fourths of the British public on all points is one of the first elements of sanity." ~ Oscar Wilde

It is not economical to go to bed early to save the candles if the result is twins. ~Chinese Proverb

"The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.
Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes,
certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

"Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
- Albert Einstein

"Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory." - Sir Thomas Beecham

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." - Winston Churchill

"If you want to know what a man is really like, take notice of how he acts when he loses money." - Simone Weil

"Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well." - C. H. Spurgeon

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
I Corinthians 13:4-8

"Why love if losing hurts so much? We love to know that we are not alone." - C. S. Lewis

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference."
- Elie Wiesel
(Oct. 1986)

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved." - George MacDonald

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." - Martin Luther King jr

"It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am the more affection I have for themÉ. Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say." - Thomas Merton

""There are two kinds of people; those that finish what they start, and so on..." Robert Byrne

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
--Galileo Galilei